


Evasive Maneuvers

by JazzRaft



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:25:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9537821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazzRaft/pseuds/JazzRaft
Summary: Faster and faster they walked until they were finally running, bolting through damp, dark alleys, a stampede of cruel boots rushing after them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [tumblr](http://jazzraft.tumblr.com/post/155878859832/croweluna-with-push-pretty-pretty-please) for the "Push" prompt in [this post.](http://jazzraft.tumblr.com/post/155862556736/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-prompt)

“Where do we go from here?”

Crowe examined the map, fingers drumming over each of the Imperial blockades she’d marked along the roads. Luna watched her think, hoping she hadn’t sounded like she was rushing her by asking. While she was hyper-aware of the urgency to reach Altissia, a small, selfish part of her was actually enjoying the time spent getting there. Yes, technically, she was “on the run” and there was little to enjoy about that, but the severity of her situation was often eclipsed by the fascinating sights she was getting exposed to on the road. It also helped that the company was positively delightful.

Luna had been surprised to meet Crowe when she made it to the rendez-vous point. She’d been unaware that women could be Kingsglaive, and she instantly had a million questions for Crowe about what it was like, fighting for a King instead of exchanging simple pleasantries with one. She kept those questions to herself though. The timing was hardly appropriate. But, since they’d safely made it through the bulk of Niflheim’s more dangerous territories, Luna had snuck a few into casual conversation. Of all the wonderful and exciting things Luna saw along the highways, the most intriguing was the one always sitting just in front of her.

Presently, Crowe pressed a thumb beneath her lip, a gesture Luna observed often in her when she was troubled by her thoughts. Luna had learned over the course of their travels that it wasn’t a good sign. She folded her arms on the table, brushing the salt and pepper shakers to the side. Luna had never visited a Crow’s Nest diner before. There was “no point in her making a glutton of herself on that peasantry slop when you have the finest chefs in all of Eos at your fingertips,” Ravus used to say. She’d quickly learned that the Crow’s Nest fast food chain had essentially invaded every other block of every other town in the entire world, and even more quickly realized that she found them completely charming.

“If you think this is good, you should try this place I go to in Insomnia,” Crowe said once and Luna felt her eyes light up, hoping that one day she would be able to take her up on that.

With the way Crowe was looking at the map now, Luna felt that hope slowly slipping away. “If I had three more men we might be able to take that blockade and breeze right through…” Crowe muttered to herself, tapping at one of the marked spots.

Luna didn’t interrupt her while she thought, instead casting her gaze around the small diner. A couple in the booth ahead of them, a man sleeping at the bar with a soda loosely clutched in his hand, a man leaning beside the radio next to him, just barely catching Luna’s eye before switching them to the newspaper in his hands. Another man by the pinball machines, his hands toggling at the buttons, but not actually playing.

“Crowe.”

She grunted, distractedly. Luna squeezed her arm. Crowe’s brown eyes shot up instantly, meeting hers. Luna mouthed the words “two men” forcing herself to keep her eyes on Crowe’s and not stare at the pair. Crowe inclined her head in a nod and glanced over Luna’s shoulder, squinting to find the reflection of the room in the diner window.

“Leave a tip,” she said, analyzing the room from the reflection and folding up the road-map.

Luna did as she was told, quelling the trembling in her hands while she fished through her purse. Quieter this time, Crowe instructed, “Keep your eyes on me and respond to whatever I say. Get up and start walking.”

Luna slid from the booth, going through the motions – slipping the strap of her purse over her shoulder, smoothing out the skirt of her dress, smiling at the owner behind the bar and thanking him for the meal. She started walking and Crowe slid into step alongside her, slipping the map in front of her face and pointing at nothing on it.

“Hey, there’s a chocobo outpost a couple miles from here!” she beamed. “Wanna swing by there? See if we can afford a ride?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never ridden a chocobo before,” Luna replied, nothing false about her statement – although it was difficult to smile without feeling like a toothpaste advertisement.

“That’s settled then!” Crowe said, holding the diner door for her.

It was all Luna could do not to run to the motorcycle, but it was right that she didn’t. She saw him the same instant Crowe did, another suspicious-looking man getting out of his truck in the parking spot next to Crowe’s bike.

“Wait, no, we parked over here!” Crowe said in a teasing tone to Luna, taking her arm and leading her in another direction.

Luna’s pulse throbbed in her neck, eyes glued on whatever was in front of her wherever Crowe directed her. She felt the glaive’s hand against her back, firm and guiding, but it couldn’t guide Luna’s terror outside of her body.

“Stay calm,” Crowe murmured. “We’re fine.”

Luna wasn’t entirely sure the words were meant for her. The diner had been located in a small, clustered city, built of close buildings and narrow alleys, and if Crowe had never been to this city before, it was difficult to tell. She led Luna down alleys and around corners with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where they were going, but Luna knew for a fact that she did not.

The whole time they walked, Luna could hear footsteps behind them. It started as one set, then two, then three, maybe even four, she didn’t know if that was real or just the pounding of her blood in her ears. With each addition, Crowe pushed their pace a little faster. The footsteps mimicked them. Faster and faster they walked until they were finally running, bolting through damp, dark alleys, a stampede of cruel boots rushing after them.

Crowe gripped Luna’s hand hard, jerking her in a million different directions, never looking back. Part of Luna was desperate to see just how close they were. Another didn’t want to know, wanted to believe that they were far, _far_ behind, that they weren’t going to catch them.

“Crowe…”

“Keep running. Trust me!”

Luna swallowed her doubt and did as she said. Following her orders had kept her alive so far. No reason to stop believing they would keep her safe now. They ran for so long that Luna was sure they were lost and that the men in pursuit of them were going to bear down on them at any moment. They’d drag her away, kicking and screaming, and they’d kill Crowe and they’d just leave her there in the dirty alley to rot and there would be nothing Luna could do, nothing that she could beseech the Gods to do, to have mercy on them both and rescue them from capture.

She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest when light suddenly washed across the lane ahead of them. She could hear voices, music, a public space. She hardly had a second to register the sights and sounds of the little square full of people before Crowe shoved her into the tight space between two food vendors’ stalls. Crowe pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and gave her an intense look.

“Pretend that you love me.”

Luna blinked in confusion. Crowe shoved her against the wall and kissed her. Luna stiffened in shock, uncomprehending until Crowe shifted, adjusting her body so it covered most of Luna’s from the view of the square. When Luna heard the footsteps thundering out of the alley, she understood and wrapped her arms around Crowe, hiding her face in the brunette’s hood. She tried not to focus on the fear, on how close those boot-slaps on the cobblestones were, obliviously passing them by, looking everywhere but in this tiny, trapped space.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing them to just leave and give up. She focused on the other woman’s lips, a taste of iron and sweat in her mouth. Crowe cupped a hand around her shoulder, a comfort and an order in the slight tightening of her fingers. _Almost gone. A little longer_. Time felt infinite. By the time they were gone, Luna could hardly remember where they’d started. She knew it was over when Crowe pulled away, crouching around the walls of the vendor stalls and scanning the crowded square.

“Clear,” she said, voice terse and heavy with the erratic rise and fall of her chest.

She turned back to Luna, the lights from the square shading her face inside her hood. Her eyes were a little wild, exhilarated and relieved. Luna slumped against the wall, hugging her arms around her waist. She tilted her head back against the bricks and tried to remember how to breathe. It was a long way to Altissia.


End file.
